Eleven days after giving birth is not generally a time when a woman likes to be seen out and about. No one had told Merethyl that, however, and Christian didn't seem inclined to inform her that most of their colleagues - being human - wouldn't be expecting to see her up and about and looking so ....well, well. But she was a full-blooded elf, and some things were very different for her race than for humans. Nauseatingly so, in some cases. She paused in the road between the theater and the dance studio, glancing over to Christian curiously. "Which way, melamin?"
"The dance studio, I think," Christian replied. "I think Tony and Anya have classes today," he added, explaining his reasoning. They were eager to show off their little bundle of joy to all their friends and colleagues, but first and foremost were Tony and Anya.
Twisting to look across the street at the studio, the gathering of mums and dads inside suggested that Anya's under-fives Twinkle Toes class was soon to let out. Merry smiled, looking forward to seeing their friends' reactions to the newest member of Team Shanachie, as Mataya insisted on calling it. "How is he?" she asked, tilting her head to look at the baby boy hugged close in Christian's arms.
"Content, for now," Christian replied, as he glanced down at the baby boy nestled in his arms, all wrapped up in a pale blue blanket. Content for now, until he was hungry or cold needing changing, anyway. Without Merry's elven sight, he couldn't quite make out what class was going on in the studio from clear across the street, but he was aware enough of the schedule to make a good guess. "Shall we go introduce him to his Tante Anya?" he asked, smiling back at her.
"I believe that is the intention, yes." Her pale features warmed with a smile of her own as she tucked her hand into the crook of his arm, glancing both ways before stepping across the street to open the door of the studio. Various mums and dads glanced up as they entered, barely giving them a second glance.
The receptionist, however, lit up like a firework. "Oh! Monsieur Benoit! Welcome back!"
"Merci, merci!" Christian replied, his smile widening as he and Merry stepped into De Luca Dance Studio with that little blue bundle in his arms. "We are just visiting today. Can you tell me if Tony or Anya are here?" he asked, doing his best to step around the parents who were meandering around as they waited to pick up their children from class.
The cheerful receptionist grinned, her expression of excitement intensifying at the sight of the little bundle in Christian's arms. "Madame Anya is just finishing with the Twinkle-Toes, and I believe Monsieur Tony will be done with the young cavaliers just a few minutes after that," she told them. "Is that the baby?" She blinked then, and looked at Merry in shock. "I could have sworn you were pregnant a week ago."
"It is," Christian confirmed, chuckling a little at the woman's shocked expression when she looked at his wife. "She heals quickly," he explained, without really explaining. It was really no one else's business how Merry was looking so well so soon after birthing their son, but this was Rhy'Din, and far stranger things were known to have happened. "Is there somewhere quiet we can wait?" he asked further, with a pointed look at the small crowd of anxious parents.
"Oh! Oh, of course ....go through to the office, no one's in there right now." The receptionist smiled broadly at both of them, rising to lift the counter so they could pass through unmolested. A rising chatter from one of the larger studios suggested that the little ones who had been practicing their twinkle toes were about to be unleashed on their parents.
Merry laughed at the happy sound, ushering Christian ahead of her. "We do not want to get caught in that!"
"Definitely not!" Christian agreed, waiting for Merry to take the lead past the counter and into the office. "Will you please tell them we are here?" he asked the receptionist as he passed by. They didn't want to disrupt classes, which was why they had asked for a quiet, out of the way place where they could wait.
"Of course," she assured them, closing the counter down just as a click announced the door of Studio A being opened to unleash the tide of loud little people. A second click, however, shut the worst of the noise out before the baby could be disturbed by it.
Merry bit her lip, still smiling. "Perhaps one day soon I will be able to get back to dancing," she mused hopefully.
As much as dancing meant to him and as grateful as he was to Tony for giving him a place in the ballet here in Rhy'Din, Christian did not look quite so anxious to get back to work. "I am sure we will be dancing again soon enough," he said, looking to the small blue-wrapped bundle in his arms. He had taken some time off from the ballet, as well, but had found he wasn't missing quite as much as he'd thought he would. There was a ballet coming up in a few weeks, but Christian and Merry would not be dancing in it, with a newborn to care for.
Still sleeping soundly, his newborn son wriggled a little in his blankets, yawning before hugging his tiny hands together and settling down once again. Merry's smile softened at the sight, her cheek finding a place to rest against her husband's arm. "I am not so anxious to abandon you both simply for the pleasure of moving to music," she promised him softly.
"Nor am I," he admitted just as softly, smiling over at her a moment before returning his gaze to their son. Coming to Rhy'Din had not only resulted in a miraculous healing from a career-ending injury, but he had unexpectedly found love there, as well. Now, with a wife and son to care for, his career seemed less important somehow. His priorities in life had simply changed. "Perhaps we can wait until the new season," he suggested, though that seemed a given in that the next ballet was only a few weeks away, which was hardly enough time for them to get ready.
Indeed, they would already have had to have started rehearsing if they were going to be a part of the upcoming ballet. But it wasn't such a wrench not to be a part of it, not with their son slowly beginning to focus on their faces and recognize their voices in his first days of basic independence. The noise from outside seemed to be dying down, drawing Merry's gaze toward the door, where Anya was visible being hugged by several small ballerinas as she talked with their mothers. She chuckled softly. "Perhaps I should think about teaching."
"I was considering that, too," he echoed his wife's thoughts, as he followed her gaze to the view of Anya and her little ballerinas. They would have to consider retirement at some point, but Christian wasn't sure he was quite ready for that yet, and he knew Tony needed them. "I know Tony was hoping to build a company here," he said, though the troupe had thus far remained small.
"Perhaps it is time he considered putting together a touring company," Merry mused thoughtfully. "There are plenty of smaller cities, and city states, and a few small countries within traveling distance of Rhy'Din City that might welcome a fully professional company visiting every now and then."
"A touring company?" Christian echoed, arching a curious brow. "But that would take us away from home," he pointed out, unsure if she meant for this touring company to be made up of the ballet company or separate from it. Home was definitely Rhy'Din now. His wife and son and friends were here. There was nothing left for him on Earth anymore.
"I don't mean for us," she admitted with a smile. "But for the corps dancers, it would be an opportunity to be principals and hone those skills, while opening places for new corps dancers and spreading knowledge of the company itself. With a known company, there is an opportunity to open a ballet school here in Rhy'Din." She shook her head. "Ambitious thoughts."
"Oh, I see," he admitted, feeling a little foolish for not understanding what she'd meant right away. "That would mean further auditions," he pointed out, though not right away. It would take time to organize a traveling troupe. And even longer to organize put together a ballet school. They were interesting thoughts, if only he knew where she was thinking they belonged in those thoughts.
"True, it would," she nodded in agreement. "But these are not things that we would have to do. We could simply ....mention them." A tiny flicker of mischief crossed her face - Tony and Anya were like dogs with a bone when they were introduced to an idea they liked.
"The dance studio, I think," Christian replied. "I think Tony and Anya have classes today," he added, explaining his reasoning. They were eager to show off their little bundle of joy to all their friends and colleagues, but first and foremost were Tony and Anya.
Twisting to look across the street at the studio, the gathering of mums and dads inside suggested that Anya's under-fives Twinkle Toes class was soon to let out. Merry smiled, looking forward to seeing their friends' reactions to the newest member of Team Shanachie, as Mataya insisted on calling it. "How is he?" she asked, tilting her head to look at the baby boy hugged close in Christian's arms.
"Content, for now," Christian replied, as he glanced down at the baby boy nestled in his arms, all wrapped up in a pale blue blanket. Content for now, until he was hungry or cold needing changing, anyway. Without Merry's elven sight, he couldn't quite make out what class was going on in the studio from clear across the street, but he was aware enough of the schedule to make a good guess. "Shall we go introduce him to his Tante Anya?" he asked, smiling back at her.
"I believe that is the intention, yes." Her pale features warmed with a smile of her own as she tucked her hand into the crook of his arm, glancing both ways before stepping across the street to open the door of the studio. Various mums and dads glanced up as they entered, barely giving them a second glance.
The receptionist, however, lit up like a firework. "Oh! Monsieur Benoit! Welcome back!"
"Merci, merci!" Christian replied, his smile widening as he and Merry stepped into De Luca Dance Studio with that little blue bundle in his arms. "We are just visiting today. Can you tell me if Tony or Anya are here?" he asked, doing his best to step around the parents who were meandering around as they waited to pick up their children from class.
The cheerful receptionist grinned, her expression of excitement intensifying at the sight of the little bundle in Christian's arms. "Madame Anya is just finishing with the Twinkle-Toes, and I believe Monsieur Tony will be done with the young cavaliers just a few minutes after that," she told them. "Is that the baby?" She blinked then, and looked at Merry in shock. "I could have sworn you were pregnant a week ago."
"It is," Christian confirmed, chuckling a little at the woman's shocked expression when she looked at his wife. "She heals quickly," he explained, without really explaining. It was really no one else's business how Merry was looking so well so soon after birthing their son, but this was Rhy'Din, and far stranger things were known to have happened. "Is there somewhere quiet we can wait?" he asked further, with a pointed look at the small crowd of anxious parents.
"Oh! Oh, of course ....go through to the office, no one's in there right now." The receptionist smiled broadly at both of them, rising to lift the counter so they could pass through unmolested. A rising chatter from one of the larger studios suggested that the little ones who had been practicing their twinkle toes were about to be unleashed on their parents.
Merry laughed at the happy sound, ushering Christian ahead of her. "We do not want to get caught in that!"
"Definitely not!" Christian agreed, waiting for Merry to take the lead past the counter and into the office. "Will you please tell them we are here?" he asked the receptionist as he passed by. They didn't want to disrupt classes, which was why they had asked for a quiet, out of the way place where they could wait.
"Of course," she assured them, closing the counter down just as a click announced the door of Studio A being opened to unleash the tide of loud little people. A second click, however, shut the worst of the noise out before the baby could be disturbed by it.
Merry bit her lip, still smiling. "Perhaps one day soon I will be able to get back to dancing," she mused hopefully.
As much as dancing meant to him and as grateful as he was to Tony for giving him a place in the ballet here in Rhy'Din, Christian did not look quite so anxious to get back to work. "I am sure we will be dancing again soon enough," he said, looking to the small blue-wrapped bundle in his arms. He had taken some time off from the ballet, as well, but had found he wasn't missing quite as much as he'd thought he would. There was a ballet coming up in a few weeks, but Christian and Merry would not be dancing in it, with a newborn to care for.
Still sleeping soundly, his newborn son wriggled a little in his blankets, yawning before hugging his tiny hands together and settling down once again. Merry's smile softened at the sight, her cheek finding a place to rest against her husband's arm. "I am not so anxious to abandon you both simply for the pleasure of moving to music," she promised him softly.
"Nor am I," he admitted just as softly, smiling over at her a moment before returning his gaze to their son. Coming to Rhy'Din had not only resulted in a miraculous healing from a career-ending injury, but he had unexpectedly found love there, as well. Now, with a wife and son to care for, his career seemed less important somehow. His priorities in life had simply changed. "Perhaps we can wait until the new season," he suggested, though that seemed a given in that the next ballet was only a few weeks away, which was hardly enough time for them to get ready.
Indeed, they would already have had to have started rehearsing if they were going to be a part of the upcoming ballet. But it wasn't such a wrench not to be a part of it, not with their son slowly beginning to focus on their faces and recognize their voices in his first days of basic independence. The noise from outside seemed to be dying down, drawing Merry's gaze toward the door, where Anya was visible being hugged by several small ballerinas as she talked with their mothers. She chuckled softly. "Perhaps I should think about teaching."
"I was considering that, too," he echoed his wife's thoughts, as he followed her gaze to the view of Anya and her little ballerinas. They would have to consider retirement at some point, but Christian wasn't sure he was quite ready for that yet, and he knew Tony needed them. "I know Tony was hoping to build a company here," he said, though the troupe had thus far remained small.
"Perhaps it is time he considered putting together a touring company," Merry mused thoughtfully. "There are plenty of smaller cities, and city states, and a few small countries within traveling distance of Rhy'Din City that might welcome a fully professional company visiting every now and then."
"A touring company?" Christian echoed, arching a curious brow. "But that would take us away from home," he pointed out, unsure if she meant for this touring company to be made up of the ballet company or separate from it. Home was definitely Rhy'Din now. His wife and son and friends were here. There was nothing left for him on Earth anymore.
"I don't mean for us," she admitted with a smile. "But for the corps dancers, it would be an opportunity to be principals and hone those skills, while opening places for new corps dancers and spreading knowledge of the company itself. With a known company, there is an opportunity to open a ballet school here in Rhy'Din." She shook her head. "Ambitious thoughts."
"Oh, I see," he admitted, feeling a little foolish for not understanding what she'd meant right away. "That would mean further auditions," he pointed out, though not right away. It would take time to organize a traveling troupe. And even longer to organize put together a ballet school. They were interesting thoughts, if only he knew where she was thinking they belonged in those thoughts.
"True, it would," she nodded in agreement. "But these are not things that we would have to do. We could simply ....mention them." A tiny flicker of mischief crossed her face - Tony and Anya were like dogs with a bone when they were introduced to an idea they liked.